Landmark Ruling on Financial Provision

Landmark Ruling on Financial Provision

The recent Supreme Court ruling in the case of Wyatt v Vince [2015] UKSC 14 highlights how important it is to obtain a financial Consent Order during divorce, in order to finalise the proceedings.

 

The court ruled that the passage of time (in this case 22 years) did not prevent a claim being brought by a woman against her ex husband for financial provision.

 

To read the judgment from the case click here

  

To discuss any concerns you may have please contact our family department via enquiries@hhb-mo.co.uk  or by telephone on 0121 449 5050.

Making a Will

A Personal Note from Roger Mallatratt

While my note about LPAs suggested that those who want to take the time and trouble can make their own I very strongly advise clients that they should have their Wills prepared professionally.

 

A Will is not a form; it is a blank sheet in which you have to set down exactly what you want to happen to your estate when you die. It only becomes a valid document on your death at which point there will be nothing you can do to correct any mistakes.

 

The starting point is to assess in broad terms what you own at the moment and how your estate would be distributed if you died reasonably soon. It is quite easy to get even that first stage wrong. For example, many people see their jointly owned house as belonging equally to each party forgetting that the law of survivorship means that on the first death the entire property passes automatically to the other.

 

The next stage is to start to consider, as far as you can, what you might own if you die some years in the future. Might you have had an inheritance? Might you need residential care which could  result in your house having been sold before you die?

 

Giving a house to a family member in your Will might go completely wrong for that person if the house was no longer yours when you died.

 

Family life is much more complicated than it was; many people are in second marriages or partnerships and one or both have children from other relationships. That usually needs some thinking about.

 

Who are you going to appoint as executors? Usually these can be drawn from immediate family. There is generally no need for the solicitors or a Will writing company to be executors. Such appointments lead to increased and unnecessary cost for your estate.

 

I do not advise clients to appoint us as executors unless there is some very good reason for doing so.

 

We do not charge a massive fee which allegedly incorporates Probate work. We charge reasonably for the Will, we do not charge for storing it and we make no charge for getting it out of storage and handing it to your executors when the time comes. If your executors want help from our excellent Probate Department they can have it but there is no obligation or hard sell.

 

These are just a few of the areas that I and my colleagues at Hadgkiss will help you to deal with when we are making your Will. I am delighted to work with such a friendly firm and hope to be of service to you.

 

To contact Roger please call our Moseley office on

0121 449 5050 or email enquiries@hhb-mo.co.uk

 

Lasting Powers of Attorney

 

A personal note from Roger Mallatratt

If you have got this far in your research you probably have an interest in obtaining a LPA for yourself or for a relative and will have a pretty good idea of what it means.

 

You will be aware of what is almost a barrage of recommendation for LPAs from the Press, Government and on radio and TV. They really do make sense.

 

The Office of the Public Guardian website is excellent. It has all the forms you need and loads of information. If you want to do so you can prepare and register them for yourself.

 

I am one of the lawyers at Hadgkiss to whom LPA enquiries are directed. I have been writing them since they began about 7 years ago and I have over 30 years of legal experience behind me.

 

This is not the place to persuade you to have an LPA. It is just a few notes looking at some of the points that arise.

 

The first thing to say is that it is not essential to use a solicitor. The LPA and the other papers involved are all forms. They just have to be completed properly; the rules are on the OPG website and are the same rules that we use. What a solicitor offers is the experience to avoid mistakes, guidance on the few questions that the forms raise and, perhaps of most importance, the saving of the time and responsibility.

 

We offer a fixed price which includes the making of the LPA and all the necessary steps to include registration.

 

I always advise clients to have more than one attorney if possible and if that does not suit then I encourage them to appoint someone else as a possible replacement.

 

It is absolutely essential that you fully trust the people you are appointing. They will be in control of aspects of your life when you are no longer able to exercise control. If you are in any doubt about anyone do not appoint them.

 

Although I am willing to have intended attorneys present for some of the interview that will only be if the person making the LPA, who is my client, wants them to be. If I sense any uncertainty with my client or I learn of any pressure I will advise against the LPA being made.

 

Some enquiries come from relatives who want to be able to stop a family member (usually an older one) from doing something of which they disapprove. Often that behaviour is spending the money they hoped to inherit. Such enquiries may be well meant but LPAs don’t work like that. The maker of the LPA can continue doing whatever they like unless or until they lose mental capacity. Until then all the LPAs in the world cannot interfere.

 

I hope that there has been something worth reading on this page and that I may be able to help you.

 

To contact Roger please call our Moseley office on

0121 449 5050 or email enquiries@hhb-mo.co.uk